I'm somewhat gladdened that the Conservatives didn't sweep Alberta completely, but still disappointed to see the province still hasn't caught on...Still, Rahim Jaffer lost... I guess he'll have plenty of time to make his own radio appearances now. [/incredibly dated political reference]

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"If it had not been for the discontent of a few fellows who had not been satisfied with their conditions, you would still be living in caves. Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.

Progress is born of agitation. It is agitation or stagnation." -Eugene Debs (1855- 1926)

I'm somewhat gladdened that the Conservatives didn't sweep Alberta completely, but still disappointed to see the province still hasn't caught on...Still, Rahim Jaffer lost... I guess he'll have plenty of time to make his own radio appearances now. [/incredibly dated political reference]

As for the Conservative near-sweep of Alberta, the province has caught on to the fact that the Liberal Party is a pack of thieves who'd rob us (and Saskatchewan) blind in a minute and the NDP are a loony bin full of nutters that don't know how to run a Tim Hortons, much less a country. As for the Greens, they don't really account for much until the day Canada switches to proportional representation.

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"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human faceâ€” forever."

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the dew of the mountain that thoughts acquire speed; the hands acquire shakes; the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.Economic Left/Right: -7.38 | Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.79 This message is encoded with ROT26. Decoding is punishable by law under the DMCA.Rogue's WeyrRogue's Rabblings

Coalition governments are extremely rare in Canada. At the federal level, it hasonly happened twice (once in the 1800s, once during WWI). One of the reasonsis the limited number of parties (four sitting). While it is remotely possible thatthe Liberals and NDP could form a coalition (it has happened at the provincial level),it is not even remotely possible that the current conservative party would considera coalition with any sitting party. Since they are only 12 seats away from a majority,they don't really need to. Also given the cost of an election, most of the partiesare deep in debt, so for the first year, no party is likely to force an election.

I'm not sure what the Canadian electorate would make of a coalition. In generalthey have punished the parties involved at the next election in the recent pastat the provincial level. The advent of TV and mass marketing has made theparty "brand" an integral part of identity of a candidate. Our close proximityto the US, and the limited number of viable parties has produced clearseparations in identity between the parties (if not so much clear differencesin policy).